Physical infrastructure management system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of the present invention allow for the discovery of physical location information about network assets and the delivery of that information to network administrators. In addition, environmental and other information about network asset locations can be provided to an administrator. Intelligent patch panels and power outlet units are installed in network cabinets to facilitate the acquisition and reporting of physical infrastructure information, including information about network resource availability.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/139,975, filed Dec. 22, 2008, the subject matter of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to network management systems, and moreparticularly to a system for acquiring and providing physical locationinformation and other information related to physical layerinfrastructure, such as environmental information, about networkelements.

BACKGROUND

Communication networks are growing in number and complexity. Datacenters that house network elements have likewise grown increasinglylarge and complex. With this growing complexity, it can be difficult fornetwork administrators to maintain accurate records regarding thephysical locations of assets within a communication network. In manycases, the physical location of network assets is tracked manually, withsignificant opportunities for errors or omissions.

This can lead to many problems for network administrators andtechnicians. It is possible for an administrator or technician to knowwhere a fault is within a network based on the logical network topology,but not to know exactly where in a particular building the fault islocated. More particularly, it is possible in some network managementsystems to know that a server connected to a particular switch port isexperiencing a fault, but if the physical location records are notaccurate, it may take a significant amount of work to actually determinethe physical location of the faulty server.

The lack of information regarding physical location of assets can alsocause problems with network growth planning. For example, a networkadministrator or technician may have little idea of how much free space,connectivity, thermal capacity, power capacity, or functioning physicallayer is available in cabinets in a data center without undertaking asignificant effort in manually mapping out the location of networkassets and related physical layer infrastructure elements on acabinet-by-cabinet basis.

Another challenge encountered in expansion planning is a lack ofknowledge about the physical environment where expansion is desirable ornecessary. For example, an administrator may know that rack space isavailable for installation of a new group of servers. But theadministrator may have little to no information about the impact thatadding a server group will have on the power consumption, heatgeneration, structural cabling, power capacity, weight, security, orgrounding in a cabinet or area of a data center. In some cases, thiscould necessitate an engineering review that will add expense and delayto network expansion projects. In addition, the lack of importantinformation inhibits automation since the physical representation of anetwork may not be reconciled with the logical connections within thenetwork.

It is desirable to have a system that addresses the problems listedabove by automatically acquiring and tracking physical locationinformation regarding network assets and by providing physical layerinfrastructure data and other environmental information regardingnetwork installations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows network racks with intelligent patch panels according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows network racks with intelligent patch panels and poweroutlet units;

FIG. 3 shows network racks with intelligent patch panels, power outletunits, and sensors;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the process of link discoveryaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows data fields involved in a link discovery process accordingto one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a logical topology of a computer network; and

FIG. 7 shows a map indicating the physical locations of devices in anetwork.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application provides a system that uses intelligent patchpanels with enhanced patch cords and software to enable the discoveryand updating of physical location information for network elements, aswell as other information associated with a container or other boundaryrelevant to network design and operations information. The presentinvention uses hardware and methodologies discussed in U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/113,868, entitled “Intelligent PatchingSystem,” and filed on Nov. 12, 2008, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

Patch panels can be incorporated into a network in two different generaldeployment styles. In the first style, called “interconnect,” a patchpanel is connected directly to network switching over horizontalcabling, with the horizontal cabling generally attached to the backpanel of the patch panel. In an interconnect deployment, other networkequipment is connected to the front of the patch panel for communicationwith the network switches. In the second style, called “cross connect,”two patch panels are used between a switch and other network equipmentthat connects to the switch. Both styles of deployment have advantages.An interconnect deployment saves money and space because fewer patchpanels are needed, but a cross connect deployment makes it easier toimplement changes in connectivity in a network.

A variety of specialized patch cords may be used in connection with thepresent invention, depending on the particular application. Patch cordsmay be considered as falling into two general embodiments: a “nine wire”patch cord style, which has one additional conductor in addition to thetraditional four-pair Ethernet patch cord, and a “ten wire” patch cordstyle, which has two additional conductors. While the terms “nine wire”and “ten wire” will be used herein, it is to be understood that theseterms are used to refer to patch cords having either one or twoadditional conductors used for patch cord management functions. Forexample, a “nine wire” patch cord could be replaced with a fiber opticpatch cord having one conductor used for patch cord managementfunctions, in addition to the optical fiber.

According to certain embodiments and applications of the presentinvention, different specific types of patch cord may be used. Ininterconnect deployments, nine-wire and ten-wire patch cords thatintegrate hardware for allowing detection of insertion or removal oftheir remote ends (the ends not attached to the patch panel) may beused. In cross-connect deployments, intelligent patch panels can be usedin conjunction with a nine-wire patch cord style that does notnecessarily need to incorporate hardware that allows insertion orremoval detection at the remote end of the patch cord. This is becausetwo intelligent patch panels can be used to communicate connectivityinformation to one another over ninth wires of patch cords.

Turning to FIG. 1, the present invention uses intelligent patch panelsinstalled in cabinets, which may in turn be housed in data centers, dataclosets, or other locations. Two intelligent patch panels 10 and 10′ areillustrated in FIG. 1, as installed in two cabinets 12 and 12′. Theintelligent patch panels 10 and 10′ have front panel ports 20, and eachfront panel port 20 is connected to a corresponding rear connector ofthe patch panel (such as a punchdown connector or a modular connector).The rear connectors, in turn, are connected to other parts of thenetwork (illustrated as structured cabling cloud 14) by horizontalcabling 16. Management ports 17 of the intelligent patch panels 10(which may be Ethernet ports) are connected via management connections19 to the network cloud 14, and can transmit data to and receive datafrom a physical infrastructure management (PIM) server 15 through thestructured cabling cloud 14. Although the management ports 17 areillustrated in FIGS. 1-3 as being on the front panels of intelligentpatch panels for clarity, it is to be understood that the managementports 17 may be provided on the rear of the intelligent patch panels.The PIM server 15 is illustrated as a laptop in FIG. 1, but it is to beunderstood that the PIM server runs PIM software and may be implementedon a variety of different hardware platforms, using a variety ofinterfaces. It is preferred for the PIM server to have a graphical userinterface.

Ten-wire patch cords 18 connect patch ports 20 of the intelligent patchpanels 10 to network hardware installed in the cabinets 12, includingswitches 22 and servers 24. For example, in FIG. 1, a ten-wire patchcord 18 a connects patch port 20 a to switch port 21 a. In theembodiment of FIG. 1, all of the network equipment within a cabinet isconnected via ten-wire patch cords 18 to patch ports 20 located on thefront of the intelligent patch panel 10. Using this connection scheme,if the physical location of an intelligent patch panel 10 is known,including specifically the location of the cabinet 12, then the locationof all of the network equipment known to be connected to thecorresponding intelligent patch panel 10 is also known and associatedwith a container, such as a cabinet. Each intelligent patch panel 10 or10′ is provided with physical location information, defining exactlywhere it is located. Each intelligent patch panel 10 or 10′ is furthercapable of reporting this physical location information to the PIMserver 15.

According to one embodiment, the patch cords 18 are provided withinsertion detection switches at the plugs of the patch cords that areplugged into the network elements such as the switches and servers(i.e., the plugs on the ends of the patch cord that are not connected tothe intelligent patch panels 10). According to another embodiment,insertion or removal detection is accomplished by a ground detectionscheme as explained in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/113,868.

FIG. 2 shows additional hardware that can be used in one embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 2 contains essentially the same hardware andconnections shown in FIG. 1, with the addition of power outlet units(POU's) 26. POU management ports 27 of the POU's 26 can be connectedwith patch cords 28 via daisy chaining to a management port 17 of theintelligent patch panel 10 installed at the corresponding rack of thePOU's 26. The POU's 26 contain power outlets that are used to powernetwork equipment such as switches 22 and servers 24 and allowinformation about power consumption at the cabinet 12 to be collected bythe intelligent patch panel 10. The connection of POU's 26 to anintelligent patch panel 10 allows power and environmental data to beassociated with a defined space (e.g., a cabinet). Aspects of poweroutlet units are disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/040,870, filed on Mar. 31, 2008 and entitled, “Power Outlet Unit,”which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 3 shows additional hardware that can be incorporated into oneembodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 3,various types of sensors are connected to sensing and control ports 30provided on the POU's 26. Sensors for use with the present invention caninclude relative humidity and temperature sensors 32. An additionalsensor 34 is also illustrated. Examples of sensors that may be used withthe present invention include sensors for temperature, relativehumidity, or cabinet door position (including a reed switch with amagnet or an equivalent mechanism), and sensors for detecting thequality of grounding connections in the cabinet 12. Other examples ofsensors that can be used include those for detecting power quality, biterror rate, and horizontal cabling quality.

Environmental data collected by sensors can provide critical informationto data center managers for decision-making related to physical serverdeployments. The environmental information can also provide usefulcriteria to virtualization software for its selection of the optimumhardware (including physical infrastructure and server hardware)resources to host virtual machines. Sensor data logs can also provide arecord of evidence that compels hardware vendors to honor their warrantyrepair obligations. Software can turn data such as temperature andcurrent data into easy-to-use and relevant information such asinformation about thermal capacity, power capacity, and groundingquality, for example.

Actuators 36 can also be connected to the sensing and control ports 30.Examples of actuators that can be used with the present inventioninclude cabinet door locks for security and optical signal beacons(mounted, for example, atop each cabinet) to assist in locating targetedphysical assets within large data centers.

Systems and methods of the present invention allow for physical locationinformation regarding network assets connected to intelligent patchpanels to be provided to a network management system or PIM software. Inaddition, the physical locations of network assets later connected to anintelligent patch panel (following initial installation of theintelligent patch panel) will be known because the physical locations ofeach intelligent patch panel in a network are known by software on thePIM server 15, and perhaps other network management software as may beused in specific network deployments.

The right server cabinet 12′ in FIG. 1 connects to the left switchcabinet 12 through the data center's horizontal structured cabling,depicted as cloud 14. The horizontal structured cabling between thecabinets 12 and 12′ should connect only directly from the rear of theswitch cabinet intelligent patch panel to the rear of the server cabinetpatch panel. While this system has been illustrated with only one switchcabinet 12 and only one server cabinet 12′, a plurality of switches mayundergo distribution within several cabinets, and so may a plurality ofservers. The location information methodology of the present inventionwill still function under these circumstances.

A method of associating physical location data and automated horizontallink detection with network assets will now be described. Returning toFIG. 1, it shows a first cabinet 12 in which switches 22 are installedand a second cabinet 12′ in which servers 24 are installed. The processof provisioning the intelligent patch panel 10 in the first cabinet 12will be described first. The term “provisioning” as used herein refersto the process of providing information to an intelligent patch panel toallow the intelligent patch panel to gain knowledge of the equipmentthat is connected to it. The term also refers to the process by whichthe PIM software forms logical connections between an intelligent patchpanel and the equipment that is connected to it. This can be done byusing a predetermined procedure for serially connecting ports of anintelligent patch panel, as well as equipment within a cabinet, to aprovisioning port 23 provided on the intelligent patch panel.

Using a PC to access the intelligent patch panel's management port, adata center technician assigns a unique identifier into each intelligentpatch panel's nonvolatile memory to represent:

-   -   (a) Identification labeling of the cabinet (cabinet number);    -   (b) Location on the physical floor plan of the data center;    -   (c) Cabinet type (switch or server cabinet); and    -   (d) Network elements associated with the intelligent patch        panel.

If more than one intelligent patch panel resides in a given cabinet,they all receive the same cabinet number and type identifier.

Following the installation of switches 22 and the intelligent patchpanel 10 in the first cabinet, the provisioning port 23 is used with theten-wire patch cords 18 to enable the intelligent patch panel 10 toreport to the PIM server 15 which switch ports 21 are connected to whichpanel ports 20. This can be accomplished using a patch cord installationprocedure as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/113,868, with information about switch port connections beingcollected when the switch plug of a patch cord is plugged into a switchport and the panel plug of the patch cord is connected to theprovisioning port of the intelligent patch panel.

Additional exemplary, useful information that can be collected by orprovided to the PIM Software includes:

-   -   (a) switch MAC address;    -   (b) switch IP address;    -   (c) switch chassis id or serial number;    -   (d) switch port identification, MAC address, or IP address;    -   (e) assigned host name;    -   (f) 3D visualization information in real time or real time;    -   (g) uptime;    -   (h) model and manufacturer;    -   (i) service level agreement information;    -   (j) mean time to recovery (MTTR); and    -   (k) mean time between failures (MTBF).

Next, the process of provisioning the intelligent patch panel 12′ willbe described. According to one embodiment of the present invention, aparticular provisioning method should be used when installingintelligent patch panels and other network assets in a cabinet to enablephysical location information to be collected and managed by a PIMserver or other management system. These steps occur after installationof the main distribution area cabinets and switches, horizontal cabling,and server cabinets, along with their intelligent patch panels:

-   -   a) Plug a laptop into a management port 17 located on the rear        of the intelligent patch panel 10′. Assign to the intelligent        patch panel's nonvolatile memory the cabinet ID (identification        number) and type (server cabinet patch panel), and the physical        location of the cabinet 12′.    -   b) Insert a nine-wire patch cord 18 into the server cabinet's        intelligent patch panel provisioning port 23 (shown in FIG. 1).        This signals the intelligent patch panel 10 to start initial        mapping of the horizontal cables 16 (provisioning).    -   c) Insert the other end of the 9-wire patch cord 18 into the        cabinet's first front patch panel port 20 (the cabling from the        rear of this port already connects through the horizontal        cabling to the targeted external switch port). The provisioning        port uses CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) or LLDP (Link Layer        Discovery Protocol) to acquire and memorize information uniquely        indicative of the specific external switch and switch port (port        MAC address, or switch MAC address and port ID). The intelligent        patch panel 10′ commits this information to memory (and signals        completion to the user).    -   d) With one end of the 9-wire patch cord 18 still inserted into        the provisioning port 23, disconnect the other end from patch        panel port 1, and insert it into port 2. The provisioning port        23 again acquires information that identifies the next switch        port and commits the information to memory. Repeat for all of        intelligent panel ports 20 in the server cabinet 12′, in other        words, for all of the horizontal cables terminated in the server        cabinet.    -   e) The PIM Software (resident on the PIM server 15 shown as a        laptop connected to the structured cabling cloud 14) collects        this information from the intelligent patch panel 10 along with        its cabinet number, cabinet type, and location. The PIM software        may collect this information after initial discovery of the        intelligent patch panel 10, and during subsequent periodic        polling of the intelligent patch panel 10.    -   f) The PIM Software resident in the PIM server 15 then:        -   looks for all instances of each identified switch port in            its database (it should find only two);        -   associates each individual server cabinet's intelligent            patch panel port with its matching switch cabinet            intelligent patch panel port; and        -   logically joins each of these port pairs as connected to            each other with a horizontal cable.

Through repetition of this method at all of the intelligent patch panelports in all of the server cabinets in a network, the PIM software mapsend-to-end connectivity of all of the copper horizontal cabling in thedata center. The PIM software then knows: (1) the spatial location andlogical port identification of each terminus of each horizontal cable;(2) the physical and logical location of switches and their cabinets;and (3) the physical and logical location of server cabinets and theassociated intelligent patch panels. At this point in the process, thePIM software does not have information about specific serveridentifications or locations.

Next, the servers are patched in a method that enables the specificphysical locations of servers to be known. These steps occur after theprovisioning of the server cabinets in conjunction with steps (a)through (f) above. As discussed above, two different patch cord stylesmay be used in connection with provisioning the ports of the intelligentpatch panel 10′.

-   -   a) Insert the blade-end of a ten-wire patch cord 18 into the        targeted intelligent patch panel port 20 contained within a        server cabinet 12′. The intelligent patch panel 10′ detects and        memorizes the insertion into this port (PIM software has already        associated this port with a switch port in, for example, a        distribution area, at the other end of the horizontal cable).    -   b) Insert the switch end (“far” end) of that same ten-wire patch        cord 18 into the targeted server port 25.    -   c) The intelligent patch panel port 20 detects insertion of the        intelligent patch cord 18 into the server port and signals the        event of this patched connection up to the PIM Software.    -   d) The PIM Software periodically queries the identified switch        about its specific port known to connect at the other end of the        horizontal cable. This periodic query allows elapsed time        between initial patching of servers within their cabinets and        the eventual onset of Ethernet communications from/to those        servers.    -   e) The switch immediately or eventually yields the MAC address        of the server connected to its identified port.    -   f) The PIM software designates that server MAC address as        inventory resident within the server cabinet 10′.

PIM software utilizes SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) toenable messaging between network devices and a central managementconsole or server. Management Information Blocks (MIBs) containstatistic counters, port status, and other information about thesenetwork devices. A management console issues GET and SET commands tooperate on particular MIB variables for network equipment nodes. Thevarious network device agents, such as those contained in distributedintelligent patch panels modules, can issue TRAP messages to the PIMserver to report events such as patch disconnects and other alerts.Third-party SNMP-based network management systems, such as HP OpenView,may integrate or cooperate with Panduit PIM software if the extended MIBvariable structures are shared.

PIM Software discovers all of the devices within the network. Accordingto one embodiment, certain limitations exist with respect to theavailability of switch information: the switches must have SNMPactivated, and their address table information must generally be madeavailable to the PIM software. With these permissions, the PIM softwarecan discover and aggregate:

-   -   a) Switch MAC address;    -   b) Switch IP address;    -   c) Switch chassis id or serial number;    -   d) Switch port identification, MAC address, or IP address;    -   e) Assigned host name;    -   f) Model and manufacturer; and    -   g) The IP and MAC addresses of the active devices connected to        each switch port.

Again, data center personnel assigned a unique identifier to theintelligent patch panel in the field to represent its cabinet. Since theintelligent patch panels 10 and 10′ (and therefore the PIM software)have memorized the intelligent patch panels' lists of connected switchports, and since these switches have made theirport-connection-to-server data available to the PIM software, then thePIM software can map and designate each of these connected switches andservers as physically resident within their respective cabinets. The PIMsoftware can also map the horizontal cabling connectivity within thedata center.

FIG. 4 illustrates the known connections and inferred connections in oneembodiment of the present invention. When the intelligent patch panel 10is installed, provisioned, and connected to a switch 22, the switch IDis known and associated with a particular port of the intelligent patchpanel 10. This is indicated by arrow 40 in FIG. 4. Further, when theintelligent patch panel 10′ is installed and provisioned, the PIMsoftware is able to complete its knowledge of the link between theswitch 22 and the particular port of the intelligent patch panel 10′.This is shown by arrow 42. An inferred knowledge of the horizontalcabling connection between the rear panel of the first intelligent patchpanel 10 and the rear panel of the intelligent patch panel 10′ is alsogained at this time. This inferred knowledge is shown by arrow 43 inFIG. 4. Finally, when the server ID query is accomplished (by obtainingthe server ID from the corresponding switch port to which it isconnected), the PIM software learns the server ID for each server portthat is connected to each front port of the second intelligent patchpanel 10′. This is indicated by arrow 44 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 illustrates data known by the PIM software following provisioningsteps as outlined above. The left data set 46 shows information known bythe PIM software based on information provided to the software by afirst intelligent patch panel 10 in a switch cabinet 12. The right dataset 48 shows information known by the PIM software based on informationprovided to the software by a second patch panel 10′ in a server cabinet12′. The highlighted data strings, 50 and 52, show data that are linkedby the PIM software based on the software learning that a particularhorizontal cable joins switch port number 13 through first intelligentpatch panel port number 7, to second intelligent patch panel port 21 toa particular server port. Note that in FIG. 5, the server ID is still tobe learned from the switch by the PIM software.

Knowing the physical locations of the intelligent patch panels of thepresent invention, it is possible for the PIM software to go beyond atypical topological map 54 of network assets, as shown in FIG. 6 toprovide a physical location map 56 of network assets as shown in FIG. 7.Using the techniques and hardware of the present invention, it ispossible to illustrate to a network administrator or user which specificcabinet (cabinets 12 a-e are illustrated in FIG. 7) particular networkassets are located in. By knowing the size of the network cabinets atissue, the PIM software is also able to inform an administrator abouthow much free space 58 is available for additional hardware at specificcabinets. The automated knowledge of free space 58 can be combined withthe knowledge of environmental and power usage information to allow anadministrator to intelligently plan for network expansions without theneed for a direct physical inspection of the expansion area. Systems andmethods of the present invention can also be used to assist in thecreation of work orders by providing location information and otherinformation to technicians.

The ability of a physical infrastructure management system as disclosedherein to automatically reconcile itself (i.e., to confirm that allconnections have been implemented as intended and flag any improperimplementations) enables automated decisions to be made, such as thevirtual movement of an application from one server to another, withoutthe need for a manual verification or reconciliation step.

In the above description, it is to be understood that references to“cabinets” refer to one embodiment of the present invention. It is alsopossible for the physical location information and other benefits of thepresent invention to be provided with reference to racks or rooms orother relevant physical locations (i.e., “containers”) that houseintelligent patch panels.

1. A physical infrastructure management system comprising: a physicalinfrastructure management server; at least one intelligent patch panelhaving a network connection to said physical infrastructure managementserver, said intelligent patch panel being installed in a networkcabinet and having stored therein in a patch panel memory physicallocation information that represents the physical location in which theintelligent patch panel is installed; at least one piece of networkequipment installed in said cabinet and connected to a patch port ofsaid intelligent patch panel; at least one power outlet unit installedin said cabinet, said power outlet unit having a power outlet unitmanagement port that is connected to said intelligent patch panel suchthat information about power consumption in said cabinet can becollected by said intelligent patch panel and associated with saidcabinet, said power outlet unit further comprising a sensing and controlport; and at least one environmental sensor connected to said sensingand control port of said power outlet unit, environmental data from saidenvironmental sensor being collected by said intelligent patch panel andassociated with said cabinet.
 2. The physical infrastructure managementsystem of claim 1 wherein said at least one environmental sensorcomprises a temperature sensor.
 3. The physical infrastructuremanagement system of claim 1 wherein said at least one environmentalsensor comprises a relative humidity sensor.
 4. The physicalinfrastructure management system of claim 1 further comprising at leastone actuator connected to said sensing and control port of said poweroutlet unit.
 5. The physical infrastructure management system of claim 4wherein said actuator comprises a cabinet door lock actuator.
 6. Thephysical infrastructure management system of claim 4 wherein saidactuator comprises an optical signal beacon actuator.
 7. The physicalinfrastructure management system of claim 1 wherein said physicalinfrastructure management server has a graphical user interface.
 8. Thephysical infrastructure management system of claim 1 wherein said pieceof network equipment is a network switch.
 9. The physical infrastructuremanagement system of claim 1 wherein said piece of network equipment isconnected to said intelligent patch panel via a ten-wire patch cord. 10.The physical infrastructure management system of claim 9 wherein saidten-wire patch cord is provided with an insertion detection switch.